Note: Running in Zwift is currently in beta, and they really mean "beta". That's why the feature is only available as an "Easter egg" or extra piece of functionality developers cleverly hide for the truly devoted to find. If you do try running in Zwift, be prepared for buggy behavior, lack of support, etc., and most importantly, a totally new running experience!

The gear you need for running in Zwift is pretty straightforward:

A bluetooth foot pod

A treadmill (any old kind will do, no bells & whistles required)

The Zwift iOS app

1. A bluetooth foot podWe'll start with the bluetooth foot pod, as this is the one piece that might send you on a detour to the store before running on Zwift. My first impression from beta reviewers was that Zwift only worked with a couple of foot pods; however, as more runners experiment with more bluetooth devices, it appears many different foot pods will work. And as with everything running and triathlon related, you have choices ranging from $ to $$$ to do the trick.

Foot pods—$MilestonePod. Somewhat suprisingly, this little square seems to have much of the functionality of its mid-range counterparts. Judging by the success of people using it on the Zwift Facebook groups, I decided to start with this option and see how it goes. Mine is on order as we speak! The one "catch" with the MilestonePod is that you need to contact support for a beta firmware update first, as explained in this MilestonePod video "How to: Pair MilestonePod with Zwift iOS app".

As far as converters go, if you've already got a foot pod and don't want another, this may be what you're looking for. (That said, I have a Garmin ANT+ footpod already & decided I might as well try MilestonePod as it's cheaper than either converter would be.) DC Rainmaker also reviewed the two most popular ANT+ to Bluetooth conversion options here:

CABLE. A new gadget named for "Connect ANT to Bluetooth Low Energy". It looks kind of like a footpod itself. Or,

It should be noted that the Wahoo Tickr-X HR strap is also being used with varying success—DC Rainmaker covers the hack to try it in his aforementioned blog post.

Foot pods—$$$Stryd. Stryd is in a whole different category than the other foot pods mentioned here, as it serves as a virtual power meter for running. Stryd is a Team Endurance Nation partner, so I've been hearing a lot of (good!) things about it, and team members get a sweet discount. If you're a triathlete who already likes using power on the bike, this option would be a worthy consideration.

2. A TreadmillOne of the exciting things about Zwift running is that it doesn't require a special treadmill. The footpod captures the metrics needed "in game", so you're good to go once you've got a comptible foot pod (or converter).

3. The Zwift iOS appI already had Zwift installed on my computer for cycling, but it sounds like the running function currently exists only on the new iOS app. The Zwift iOS app was easy to install on my iPhone 6+, not so much on my ancient iPad. (First it claimed it needed a newer iOS; after updating, it said it wasn't compatible with the device :-/.) Assuming you have a reasonably new iOS gadget, you should be all set.

The real issue I ran into was figuring out how to find the Easter egg in the first place! A few videos describe clicking on a specific area of the screen until the running options appears, which simply does not (currently) work. The video that finally helped me to get in was this one: "How to run on Zwift!! - Zwift iOS Running App". After that, it should simply be a matter of pairing, then off to the races!

There are just a couple of days left to win a 30 Day starter package with Team Endurance Nation and InsideTracker--enter the raffle now!

I chose Team Endurance Nation for a couple of big reasons:

Endurance Nation has a whole system built around training smarter, not harder. I frankly didn't have a great interest in doing huge volumes of training, as I got into triathlon to have a better life, not disappear from the one that I have.(!)

Endurance Nation has put together a TON of learning materials—videos, ebooks, checklists, you name it. Given all the conflicting information out there for triathlon newbies, it's a HUGE help to have "team approved" recommendations and strategies. It's hard to imagine how many hours this has saved me. Without this direction, I'd be endlessly searching the interwebs and following debates on Slowtwitch and worrying about whether I was listening to the right person or not.

As far as InsideTracker goes, I was lucky enough to win a discount on an InsideTracker test a few months into training for my first 70.3. Thank goodness, because the test results showed that I had a few biomarkers that needed work, and they were mostly related to athletic performance!

P.S. In full disclosure I also won a free month of TrainerRoad after joining Team EN, though I eventually wound up moving to Zwift. So if you've heard me raving about how much I love my indoor training, it's Zwift that I fell in love with.